Steven Universe - The Other Gems Episode One: Sodalite
by ArchWhy
Summary: The Crystal Gems are exploring a new planet, and discover a Gem who followed the example of Rose Quartz.


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Hello, although I have not watched much Steven universe, I am well aware that many people have very strong opinions regarding this show. It is my intention here to tell a complex and interesting story, which attempts to address some of the criticisms of the show's writing, while still respecting the established characterization and canon. I hope the end result will be an enjoyable product for all readers, even those who do not have a positive opinion of the show itself.

Episode one: The other Crystal Gems

Steven walked into the control room of Pink Diamond's ship. Pearl was sitting quietly at a console. Scrolling through some kind of list.

"Hey Pearl," Steven said in a friendly tone. "How is the gem census going?"

Pearl looked up, "Steven!" she said, seeming somewhat surprised to be interrupted. Pearl took a moment to collect herself, "Everything is running on schedule." she said, "It seems gems are adjusting well to life without the empire. Things on the colonies seem stable."

"That's good," said Steven. "I'm glad everyone is figuring things out."

"Yes," replied Pearl. "A lot of gems are still getting used to their newfound freedom though. It takes time to adjust, especially when you've been doing the same thing for so long."

Steven nodded.

There was a pause. Steven walked over to a nearby window. He leaned against it, staring at the expanse of space just on the other side. A blanket of stars light-years across. He felt homesick. He had enjoyed liberating the empire, but he just wanted to stay on the Earth. It seemed like every time he completed one responsibility, another one popped up. He wished things would go back to being simple sometimes. Before the Diamonds, before Homeworld attacked. Back when it was just him and the Crystal Gems.

"Pearl?" asked Steven quietly.

Pearl looked up

"How many planets do we have left before we can go back to Earth?"

Pearl looked back down at the screen, "hmm, let's see," she said, scrolling through a list of former colonies.

Something caused her to pause, she put her hand over her mouth.

Steven looked up, "Pearl, what is it?" he asked, walking over to the console.

Pearl pulled up an image of a planet, it looked somewhat like the earth, but with more water.

"I remember hearing about this planet," Said Pearl, "Back during the war, some of the gems there started a rebellion inspired by what we did."

Steven looked excited, "You mean there are other crystal gems out there?" he asked eagerly.

Pearl looked back at him with an expression of apologetic regret, "I don't think so Steven." she said, "I heard they were all wiped out millennia ago."

"Oh," said Steven, his face falling. "But we should still go there," he regained some of his enthusiasm, "Maybe they aren't all gone. If there are still gems left we should help them, let them know that they don't have to keep fighting against Homeworld anymore."

Pearl smiled a little, "Alright Steven." She said, "Go tell the others, we're making a pit stop!" She sounded rather excited for this adventure.

Pink Diamond's ship touched down on the planet, kicking up a small cloud of dust. A pink bubble appeared in front of the ship, and Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven stepped out.

"Alright everyone," Said Pearl, "Keep your guard up, we don't know what we might be facing."

Garnet looked at her, ready for anything.

Steven looked up and gasped. They were standing on the edge of a large ruin. The planet's dirt was sandy, and dusty beige in color. The foliage was lush and green. A massive floating installation hovered above them, chunks of it, having broken off over thousands of years of inoperation, floated in a loose cloud around it.

"We should Split up." Said Steven. "We can over more ground that way. I'll go with Garnet,"

Garnet gave Steven a thumbs-up.

"We should probably stay where we can see the ship," said Steven, "That way we won't get lost."

The others nodded in agreement, then started off into the forest.

"Steven," Garnet said.

Steven looked up, "Yeah Garnet?" he replied

"You might not like what we find here. A lot of gems were shattered on this planet. There might not be anyone left."

"I know," said Steven, "But if there are still gems trapped here, I want to help them."

They kept walking. There was a ruined building ahead of them. It seemed like some kind of bunker.

"Let's check in there." said Steven.

Garnet nodded, cooly knocking a large pile of rubble out from in front of the door.

The two of them cautiously stepped inside.

It was very dark. The building was in disarray, it seemed that there had once been some columns, but now most of them had fallen or been overtaken by weeds. Small treelike plants grew at odd angles, as if stretching towards shafts of sunlight that seeped through the cracks in the rubble.

Steven's gem began to glow, revealing a tunnel in the floor of the building, its entrance roughly the shape of a square with the corners sanded off.

"Wait," Said Garnet quietly, "I'll go first." she said, Stepping down into the tunnel. The dirt was clay-like and rocky, and garnet had to duck to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling.

"It's dark down here," remarked Steven, uneasily, "Kinda spooky."

Garnet glanced back at him.

They kept walking. The tunnel was cold and dark, but the walls were fairly smooth, apart from the odd rock.

"Hey Garnet," said Steven. "Do you think you could use your future vision to see if we find any gems down here?"

"I've already been trying." Said Garnet, "But this place seems to be empty. I think we'll have better luck if we go back up to the surface."

"That's a relief, replied Steven, stepping around some kind of weapon, propped haphazardly against the tunnel wall.

Garnet stopped, placing her hand against a wall in front of her. "The tunnel stops here." she said,

"And no signs of any gems." finished Steven.

Garnet nodded.

The two of them turned around and headed back through the tunnel, and into the ruin. Steven squinted a little as light from the planet's star shone through a crack in the ruins and illuminated his face.

Garnet looked around.

Suddenly, Steven stopped in his tracks.

"Steven, what is it?" asked Garnet, with a hint of concern

"I-I can sense something." Said Steven, "Like there's another Gem nearby."

He looked around, not seeing anything.

Steven started pacing the room, "I think it's strongest...right…" he began slowly, stopping by a massive stone slab, lying on its side, "There!" he exclaimed.

Garnet walked over and casually tossed the massive rock to the side, beneath it there was a blue gem with white stripes in a bubble.

Steven gasped, "A Gem!" he explained

Garnet smiled a little.

"We have to show the others." he said

"Careful Steven," Said Garnet, "This might not be one of the rebels, this could be one of the homeworld gems that was on this planet during the fighting. This gem dosen't know about anything that's happened in the last few thousand years, we should bring it back to the others before we break the bubble."

Steven nodded in agreement, and the two of them started walking back towards Pink Diamond's ship.

Pearl and Amethyst arrived shortly after.

"Hey Steven," Called Amethyst excitedly, "We didn't find anything!"

Steven chuckled at Amethyst's remark.

"It's true," added Pearl, "This part of the planet is most definitely deserted."

"Wait," Said Steven, "Look what we found." He held up the bubbled Gem

Pearl Gasped, "A gem!," she exclaimed, "And it's intact."

"I've never seen a gem like this before," Said Steven, "It's interesting."

"Open it Steven!" Encouraged Amethyst!"

Steven looked at Garnet for approval.

"You can open it Steven," Said Garnet, but we need to be ready for a fight, Just in case.

The other Gems nodded, their weapons appearing.

Steven carefully set the bubbled gem on a rock, popping the bubble. He took a cautious step back.

Suddenly, the gem began to glow, rising upwards as a figure appeared around it.

She was tall, with blue skin and long, spiky white hair with bangs that covered her eyes. She had two pointed shoulder pads which were white at their tips, then faded to the same blue as her uniform when they reached her shoulders.

"Woah." said Steven under his breath.

"Red!" Exclaimed the gem, "Where are you!? Pearl?"

"Present." Said pearl weakly.

The blue gem's head whipped around to look at pearl. "No you!" she yelled, "I'm looking for a different pearl!" She held her palms against her face

"She must have been pretty high ranking to have her own pearl." said Amethyst

"I didn't 'have' a Pearl," yelled the gem angrily, "She chose to fight for me!"

Steven's eyes widened. "Wait!" he said, "You must be the leader of the rebels on this planet. I'm Steven, and this is Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, and we are the Crystal Gems, from Earth!

The new gem's demeanor softened slightly. "You're Rose Quartz's rebels?" asked the Gem, a smile suddenly appearing on her face. "It's an honor to meet you! I am Sodalite."

"Nice to meet you too Sodalite," Said Steven, diplomatically.

Suddenly, a look of panic crept over Sodalite's face, "Wait," she exclaimed, "Where are the others? We have to warn them?"

"About what?" asked Steven, sounding deeply concerned

"The Diamonds," Shouted Sodalite, "They're going to attack any minute!"

"What?" sakd Steven, now more surprised than concerned."

"Sodalite, listen to me!" said Garnet in an authoritative tone, that was over five-thousand years ago. Everyone on this planet was either shattered or bubbled. We came here to see if there were any survivors."

"No, no no no no!" Exclaimed Sodalite, desperation in her voice, "Red! Pearl!, are you out there!?"

"It's going to be ok!" shouted Steven, "You need to stay calm. We're going to work together and find them."

Sodalite looked at him frantically,

"You survived didn't you," said Steven sympathetically, "That means there's a chance your friends are still out there. And if they are, I promise you that we will find them."

Sodalite tried to calm herself down.

"Alright," she said, "I just hope I can trust you."

"Of course you can." Said Steven

Garnet pulled up four logs and arranged them in a diamond pattern. Amethyst and pearl sat down.

"So, Sodalite, was it?" began Pearl, sounding a little uneasy, "Can you tell us a little about yourself?"

Sodalite sat on one of the logs. "I'm a Rebel," She said. "I never liked that Homeworld told gems who they could and couldn't be. We didn't get a choice, from the moment we burst out of some planet, we were told where we needed to be. What we needed to do, and how we could talk to others. Until one day, I found out about a Rose Quartz leading a rebellion on someplace called 'Earth.' The fact that a simple rose quartz could shatter a diamond inspired me. I realized that I could be more that I was, that if a quartz could take on the diamonds, I could too!."

Sodalite stood up energetically, her fists raised and clenched with excitement. She was grinning proudly.

Steven and the other gems exchanged nervous looks.

Sodalite continued, "Back on Homeworld, Sodalites like me are usually used to lead security details, so I was able to use the skills I had to start sabotaging facilities on this planet, and I swore to myself that one day, I was going to shatter the diamonds, no matter what it takes! Even if I'm the last one of us alive, I'm not giving up on my goal, the diamonds will see justice, for the freedom of all gemkind!" Sodalite was practically shouting with excited zeal as she finished.

Steven smiled nervously. Amethyst clapped excitedly at the conclusion of the story. Pearl clapped politely as well, but seemed very unnerved about the whole ordeal.

"Garnet?" asked Steven, "can we talk for a minute."

"Of course Steven," Replied Garnet, standing up, "Follow me."

She started back into the forest, with Steven following close behind.

He glanced over his shoulder nervously, making sure they were out of earshot.

He looked up at Garnet, the distress he was feeling immediately readable on his face.

"Steven," Said Garnet, in a caring tone, "It's going to be ok. Sodalite might be a bit extreme, but she is still on our side."

"Shattering Gems? Not knowing Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond?" Exclaimed Steven quietly, "This was a bad idea, we shouldn't have come here."

"Steven," Said Garnet lovingly, "Do you just want Sodalite to be trapped in that bubble for the rest of time? She deserves to be saved."

Steven started to feel angry, "Maybe I do!" he exclaimed, louder this time, "If we didn't find her, somebody else probably would. I just don't want to have to deal with another gem who was lied to by my mom!"

Garnet gave Steven a tight embrace. "I understand Steven," She said, "But if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you can change anyone's mind. Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, The Diamonds, Spinel. All of them listened to you."

"You really think she'll listen?" asked Steven

"I really do." Replied Garnet with a smile. "I believe in you Steven."


End file.
